Recruitment and Retention of Children in Behavioral Health Risk Factor Studies: Reach Strategies
Author(s)
Schoeppe, Stephanie
Oliver, Melody
Badland, Hannah M
Burke, Matthew
Duncan, Mitch J
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2014
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Background Children are a common target group in behavioral health research. Yet their recruitment into community setting studies poses challenges to researchers and little guidance exists on recruitment and retention methods. Purpose This study aims to present successful strategies for the recruitment and retention of children into behavioral health risk factor studies. Method Firstly, a literature search in various databases was undertaken for papers published 1990-2012, focusing on recruitment and retention methods used in community-based studies with children aged 3-18 years. Secondly, a Delphi study was conducted in ...
View more >Background Children are a common target group in behavioral health research. Yet their recruitment into community setting studies poses challenges to researchers and little guidance exists on recruitment and retention methods. Purpose This study aims to present successful strategies for the recruitment and retention of children into behavioral health risk factor studies. Method Firstly, a literature search in various databases was undertaken for papers published 1990-2012, focusing on recruitment and retention methods used in community-based studies with children aged 3-18 years. Secondly, a Delphi study was conducted in 2012 with 27 international experts in the fields of child-related behavioral health risk factors to gather expertise and consensus on successful recruitment and retention strategies applicable in children. Results The literature review and Delphi study yielded a set of successful child recruitment and retention strategies, and examples for implementation. These are presented as strategies to Recruit, Engage and retAin Children in behavioral Health risk factor studies (REACH). Recognized strategies for successful recruitment and retention included building trustful relationships between researchers and study partners, parents, and children; having project champions; optimizing consent and follow-up procedures; offering incentives to study partners, children, and parents; minimizing participant burden; and designing feasible studies with cohesive research teams. Conclusion Using multiple REACH strategies is most promising for maximizing response rates and minimizing attrition of children in cross-sectional, longitudinal, and behavioral intervention studies in community settings such as schools, child care centers, and other youth-related organizations. Researchers can select the most suitable strategies based on their specific study design and requirements.
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View more >Background Children are a common target group in behavioral health research. Yet their recruitment into community setting studies poses challenges to researchers and little guidance exists on recruitment and retention methods. Purpose This study aims to present successful strategies for the recruitment and retention of children into behavioral health risk factor studies. Method Firstly, a literature search in various databases was undertaken for papers published 1990-2012, focusing on recruitment and retention methods used in community-based studies with children aged 3-18 years. Secondly, a Delphi study was conducted in 2012 with 27 international experts in the fields of child-related behavioral health risk factors to gather expertise and consensus on successful recruitment and retention strategies applicable in children. Results The literature review and Delphi study yielded a set of successful child recruitment and retention strategies, and examples for implementation. These are presented as strategies to Recruit, Engage and retAin Children in behavioral Health risk factor studies (REACH). Recognized strategies for successful recruitment and retention included building trustful relationships between researchers and study partners, parents, and children; having project champions; optimizing consent and follow-up procedures; offering incentives to study partners, children, and parents; minimizing participant burden; and designing feasible studies with cohesive research teams. Conclusion Using multiple REACH strategies is most promising for maximizing response rates and minimizing attrition of children in cross-sectional, longitudinal, and behavioral intervention studies in community settings such as schools, child care centers, and other youth-related organizations. Researchers can select the most suitable strategies based on their specific study design and requirements.
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Journal Title
International Journal of Behavioral Medicine
Volume
21
Issue
5
Subject
Community child health
Health promotion